I am sitting in our room in Bellagio - gorgeous room, nice view, awful internet service. But - let's not talk about sad things.
We left beautiful Sedona early in the morning, about 9:30. It was easier to drive down this winding road then it was going up. I already remembered the tricky narrow parts, and went super slow.
In some stretches of the road there was barely space for two cars to pass, and the most dangerous thing was that some people rounding the corner drove in the middle of the road. Luckily, that was only for about 6 miles. After that we just drove through the sunny, dry pine forest, spread over gently sloping hills, a very Russian kind of countryside.
After Flagstaff we basically drove 75 miles per hour on interstate 17 through Arizona's high plateau. At first we could see pines, then pines became shorter, interspersed with brushes. As we went lower the ground became more and more dry, and cheerful woodland gave way to the desert. Before long we saw nothing but sage, yuccas and Josua trees. Closer to Hoover Dam the rocky hills rose barren and gray. From one of the scenic stops we could glimpse a stretch of Colorado river, and later passed by lake Mead. Hoover Dam also marks the border between Arizona and Nevada. Lots of people were walking across to see the dam.
Immediately we could see casinos everywhere - in Boulder city, in small towns, and lo and behold - 15 miles away from Las Vegas we could already see the giganic hotels of the strip. We drove safely to the main entrance, got valet service and a porter and proceeded in style to our room on the 27 floor.
I even managed to make it to the pools for a good long swim.
Today I took my parents to see Aria-Vdara-Crystals complex. Last time they visited Las Vegas these buildings were still under construction. When I visisted last, they were so brand new, there were hardly any people. Now the complex is teaming with crowds of people, some art chaged (for worse), Elvis is gone, his show is replaced by Zarkana, and even his effigy is banished. Too bad.
After late dinner I left mom and dad to rest and just walked around, soaking in the sights and the sounds of this exciting place.
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